


Rewind

by spacedeer



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Bisexual! Levi, F/M, Friends With Benefits, M/M, Multi, My First Fanfic, POV First Person, Walk Into A Bar, adding tags as I go
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-10-17
Updated: 2014-03-23
Packaged: 2017-12-29 16:03:30
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 15,101
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1007347
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/spacedeer/pseuds/spacedeer
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After suffering a heartbreak, Eren finds himself at a hole in the wall bar. Where he meets the stoic bar owner, Levi. The two share a quick one night together, but it blossoms into something else?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. First Meeting

**Author's Note:**

> hello! spacedeer here with my very first fic! my friend and partner haelo who's also writing http://archiveofourown.org/works/970181/chapters/1905597 will be helping me along the way.  
> lmao im running face first into a mature Ereri fic...o well i hope you guys like it! please leave feedback, it will really help me

I sighed as I felt my body slide down the soft leather couch, rolling my head over at the TV briefly watching whatever sitcom that was left playing. The sound of the constant laugh track drowned out the humming from the garage door opening. _Mikasa must be home_ , I thought to myself. I recently moved in with my sister after a recent break up. Well, not really that recent according to both Mikasa and Armin. Hearing the door open, I pushed my hair out of my eyes and titled my head up until I saw her walk in from the garage holding a brown paper bag.

“Hey, welcome back… do you need some help?”

“Ah, yes… I grabbed a few things that we were running low of.”

 

I pushed myself up off of the couch and slipped on my slippers before going out into the cold, poorly-lit garage.  I quickly shuffled around to the passenger side of her car and grabbed the last two bags. _She wasn’t kidding when she said a few._ I smiled a bit to myself and shut her car door before briskly walking back into the warmth of the house.

“Here.” I said as I placed the bags on the counter and began peeling through them, “Oh! You got steaks?”

“Yeah, I’m planning on having a guest come over tomorrow night.” _A guest? She doesn’t mean…_

I groaned “Mikasa isn’t it like the guys’ job to make dinner?”

She gave a glance in my direction and glared, “You know Jean’s a terrible cook. Besides it’s nice to eat at home once in a while. “

  _Yeah, at his house not where I can see his stupid horse face_. I rolled my eyes and continued to put things away where they belonged.

After the last of the groceries were put away, I folded the brown bags and neatly placed them in the pantry.  I made a passing glance at my sister, well adopted sister. You see, both her parents died in a highway collision when we were both nine. I remember everything happening so fast. She and I were playing in my backyard fighting over who would get to this hero we were both fans of at the time and who got to be the villain. My father came into the yard with us, which was odd and defiantly out of character for the man since he liked to keep to himself in his office almost all the time. I knew something was wrong; Mikasa and I stopped arguing when he asked me if I could go get something from inside. I nodded and ran off to the house, but when I came back I saw him kneeling before Mikasa. His hand sat on her shoulder. I stood quietly behind the sliding glass door, watching as my father told her what happened.

Everything else ended up as a blur; Mikasa soon became my legally adopted sister and since then we’ve always been together. It was obvious that she wasn’t my blood sibling, with her long (now short) black hair and dark eyes versus my brown hair and green eyes.  It didn’t matter to me though, and it still doesn’t to this very day despite the fights we often have (usually about my well-being). I blinked a few times and chuckled to myself.

“Hmm? What’s funny?”

“Nothing really, I was just remembering that time dad slipped when he was bringing in the groceries.”

“Oh! I remember that! He was so embarrassed!” She smiled brightly at the thought and hanged her keys on the pegs near the garage door. “So what did you do all day?”

_Oh no._

I grimaced and opened the fridge door idly looking for something to snack on. “Ahh well. Not too much really… I watched a few shows and read some magazines you had lying around. Haha… ah. I’m kind of hungry, what about you?” I said trying to change the subject. I hated when she asked; because she knew exactly what I’ve been doing. Trying not to cry my eyes out over that stupid jerk. I felt her eyes on my back.

“Eren.” She said in that mother tone I hated, “You really need to get out, it’s been two months already! Both Armin and I are worried sick about you… it’s not healthy being locked inside all day!”

“I’m fine!” I shouted. I was growing tired of her constant nagging about the situation. Two months ago I found out my boyfriend of _two fucking years_ was cheating on me. To top it off, I found out through a friend who practically blurted it when I bumped into her while going to work. I wasn’t sure if it was out of guilt or if maybe she was looking out for me, but that night I let Reiner have it. Instead of me leaving him, he kicked me out of _our_ apartment. I was devastated; I had absolutely no back up plans. I honestly believed that he and I would have stayed together. I felt my eyes tear up at the memory of the whole thing.

“Eren, it’s not that I want you to go out and meet someone new. I know you’re afraid of running into both Reiner and Annie.”

 

Annie.

 

Annie is my best friend’s current girlfriend; she was the one who told me all about Reiner cheating. I wasn’t mad at her per se, but I was upset. Annie mentioned that she knew he was doing it for some time now before she finally told me. I assumed Armin had something to do with it. She probably confided in him about the situation and he probably pressured her into telling me. Part of me was glad that Armin did that, but another part wished he didn’t. I sighed, “No. Yes. Okay I’m scared; I don’t feel like I’m ready to speak to either of them.” It was upsetting; I had to alienate myself from my best friend because of this. I didn’t hate Annie and I most defiantly did not hate Armin.

The room grew quiet, but was short lived when an annoying ring from the house phone filled the air. I walked passed Mikasa as she answered the phone and rushed down the hall to the spare room which pretty much became my bedroom. I knew she was only wants what’s best for me, and she was right. I had to leave the condo eventually and see about finding another job. After the break up, I had no choice but to quiet my last one. Both Reiner and I worked together, which is how we met in the first place. There was absolutely no way I was going to stay with him only being a few feet away. I opened the door to my room and began to close it when I overheard Mikasa.

“I don’t think I can go out tonight, Jean... I’m still worried about Eren.”

 _Why do you have to tell that dick everything_? I thought as I shut the door. I threw myself on the soft welcoming bed and shoved my face into my pillow. I felt like screaming. Snaking my arm into my front pocket of my jeans, I fished out my phone. The room was brightened when I turned the screen on. I tapped the messages icon and I aimlessly scrolled through the unanswered texts I received from Armin. It was barely 7:30pm. I let the phone slip out of my hand without even bothering to reply to any of the messages. _Maybe I should just walk around the neighborhood, at least that’ll get Mikasa off my back._ Agreeing with myself, I rolled to one side of the bed. I swung my legs over the edge and stood up slowly before stumbling over the dirty clothes that I left sprawled out on the floor in front of my dressers. Shifting through my unorganized drawers, I grabbed a simple long sleeve V-neck, a fresh pair of boxers and clean jeans. I took a few steps to the door and grabbed the handle, pulling it inwards as I saw Mikasa pacing around with the phone to her ear, grinning. _Oh. She’s still on the phone with sea biscuit_. I rolled my eyes and whistled in her direction.

“Just a second Jean,” she covered the mouth piece with her hand, “Hey. I’m… I’m sorry.” I gave her a small smile and shook my head.

“No, I’m sorry. I’m going to take your advice, sort of.” I added, “And walk around the neighborhood. You shouldn’t have to stay home because of me… go out with the derby champion.” She shot a mean look at me at my last remark, uncovering the mouth piece.

“Actually, I think we’re still good for tonight. So I’ll see you at 9? Okay~.” I made a face at the sound of her flirting and slipped away to the bathroom.  Stripping off my clothes, I turned the water on full blast and switched to the overhead shower mode. I stepped in and closed the glass panel doors with a sigh as I felt the chilled water hit my skin. I always preferred my water to be cool; it might have to do with the fact that my body was constantly warmer than normal. No one really could explain it and just left it at that. Maybe a medical mystery or maybe just something else, who knows. I reached for the shampoo and washed my hair trying to forget about Reiner, Mikasa’s constant mothering, and everything else that has been picking at me mercilessly. 

I stood in silence, letting the water just run down my body. This was probably one of the longest showers I’ve ever taken. Sighing, I bent down and turned the shower off. I grabbed my towel off the towel rack that hung on the side with the tub. I placed the towel over my head to dry my hair before dragging it to my arms, down my chest, then finally my legs before I tossed it on my old clothes. I reached over to a shelf on the wall that held my fresh ones and quickly got dressed, picking up my dirty clothes and throwing them in the hamper that was contently next to the bathroom. Running my hand through my hair, I made my way back into the living/dining room area. I threw myself on the couch and slipped on my TOMS; watching Mikasa make her way to the bathroom. Glancing at the clock, _7:50pm_ , I thought, _there’s probably a ton of places still open. Maybe I’ll walk down to that bookstore._ Nodding in agreement with the plan I had set for myself, I stood up from the couch and yelled towards the bathroom.

“I’m leaving! “

“Be careful!” Mikasa shouted back.

I opened the front door while grabbing my faux fur lined jacket and walked out.


	2. And a couple of drinks later

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> im so sorry it took me forever to do this chapter ahhhh i don't write a lot so brain farts all the time lol  
> enjoy~  
> any suggestions pls tell me okay

“Fuck its cold today.” I mumbled to myself as I pulled the hood of my jacket over my head. It was the end of November and snow had just lightly begun to start filling the streets, it was pleasant with the streets being almost empty. With the exception of a few cars slowly passing by, afraid of hitting a random patch of ice; I breathed heavily watching the small huff of visible air waft off. Looking around at the few familiar streets and buildings, I stopped a cross-walked and waited for traffic to stop and let me slip by. I briskly walked across the street and down a few  familiar blocks before stopping in front of a set of old buildings. I opened the door to one of them with a faded set of words that looked like they’ve been painting on the inside, the bell above it jiggled loudly and I heard a warm welcome from the owner.

I smiled softly at the older man and began walking through the seemingly endless isles of book cases. I blamed Armin for my sudden love for these old places, the guy could go hours reading without ever taking a break. It wasn’t like I shared his passion though; I liked the quietness, the smells, and the people that came with the atmosphere. It was relaxing. I picked up random titles and flipped through the pages aimlessly, I would stop and read a paragraph or two before putting it back where it belonged on the shelf. I walked into the historical fiction isle and aimlessly scanned at the titles looking at something that might have caught my interest. My eyes stopped on a familiar title, **_Les Misérables_**. I never read it myself, but I recalled someone from work talking about the play nonstop. I grabbed the dusty book and weaved myself through up to the counter where the friendly shop owner sat.

“Find everything okay?”

“I did, I’ll take this. “ I said as I handed him the book.

“Ah! A wonderful classic, have you seen the play?” he smiled as he rang it up on his register. I shook my head.

“No, but I’ve heard good things about it. Thought I would give the book a try first,” I said.

“Usually the best choice in my opinion, okay that will be $5.36” He placed the book down on the counter and waited as I pulled my wallet out from my jackets pocket and handed him a ten. He finished the transaction and gave my change to me along with the book. I thanked him and prepared myself for the cold as I opened the door. I rushed outside and shivered, “Did it get colder?” I groaned. Satisfied with myself I pulled out my phone and looked down at the time, it was close to nine; Mikasa was probably gone with Jean on their ‘date’. Rolling my eyes I couldn’t accept it, I didn’t like Jean. We tried playing it off as friendly as possible, but his personality clashed with my own and made it impossible for us to even have a simple conversation without someone’s fist striking out, at least that was before Mikasa and he started dating. I learned to just deal with it enough to make my sister happy; and I knew she was happy with Jean. He treated her wonderfully, and I appreciated that about him.

Of course this meant that my dear sister was not at home at least I came to believe, and I was free to do whatever I wanted. Then again, I promised her I would walk around the neighborhood; and god knows being gone for almost an hour was not enough for her to accept and for some reason she always _knew_ everything. I sighed and decided to head back home around ten, at least then it felt like I was gone forever. I glanced down at a street that was unknown to me and headed that way, there was a rush of anxiety and excitement that hit me. I wasn’t sure what it was, but I didn’t stop. I kept going and ignored all the foreign street names.

It wasn’t until I made a complete stop at my unknown mission, that I realized how lost and cold I was. “Shit.” I whispered. I looked around trying to find anything that was familiar to me, nothing. The weird part was; I lived in the inner city for over three years and getting around was really easy, take a left here or a right there and you usually end up back in a main intersection. So I thought I knew how to gain my bearings if I ever got lost. Sadly this wasn’t true for this part of the city that Mikasa lived in was really weird, the street names changed quickly, intersections end as soon as they began and only being in this area for a few months and hardly ever leaving really didn’t help me. I shivered and felt my teeth chatter from the cold.

 Okay I knew I had to get out of the cold and then try to get a hold of Mikasa, but where? Everything was either closed or closing down, so I didn’t have a warm place to wait while she came for me. “Shit shit shit” I repeated to myself as I briskly walked down another street scanning building after building, maybe there was a 24hr diner? Or maybe a shopping mall, with my luck they’re usually open until midnight, then again. It was Sunday evening and if anything, everything was closed or closing down right as I stood there. That’s when I saw it, across the way from me the windowless bar with the blacken door. It had small wooden sign that hung away from the door; I couldn’t see what it said, but a bar was a better choice that freezing outside.

 

I looked down and up the road looking for any signs of traffic, content with it, I ran across and pulled the door inward and shuffled inside. Sighing with relief as I felt the warm air hit my face, I slipped out of my jacket, shoving the old book into it and folded it against my arms. Scanning around the room, I noticed quite a few people were here. Mostly older couples sitting at the tables, a few playing over at the pool table and just one other elderly woman sitting at the bar alone; it felt peaceful here. Much different from the places I used to go with Reiner and friends. _Ugh_ I rolled my eyes at the thought of him and walked over to the counter and took a seat on the stool, setting my jacket on an empty one next to me. I shifted around as I noticed a few of the others looking over in my general direction. I smiled nervously; it must have been odd to see someone as young as I come in. Everyone here was probably in their early 40s to late 50s. Was it one of those bars, like the ones on TV where once you were a regular everyone knew everything about you?

 

I was quickly pulled from my thoughts when I heard a crash and what I believed was the sound of broken glass coming from the back.

“Son of a bitch, “an unknown voice out loudly said. It peek my curiosity as I leaned over as far as my body would allow me, without falling over, hoping to see what had happen. Unfortunately my choice in seating didn’t leave me with much to see, all I could catch was the back of a man wearing a black shirt. He was slightly bent over and it looked like he was pushing the broken glass with a broom. I watched as he straightened himself up and turned around.

“Is everything okay?” I hear the elderly woman at the counter near me said to him.

“Yeah, one of the boxes of new glasses I ordered fell down. “ He replied back, he turned around to face the woman, and that’s when I felt like I stopped breathing. Whoever he was, he was really good looking.

“Who’s this brat?”

“Oh Levi” The woman giggled, “He just walked in a few minutes ago. “ Levi, apparently the guy who shouted from the back, looked over at me with a bored expression; like I wasn’t even worth the time.

“Do you know what you want?” Not bothering to move from where he stood.

“C-can I get a…whiskey?” I said stuttering, making a mental note to punch myself in the face for sounding like a 15year old trying to sound tough.

“ID” Levi quickly said as he casually walked down from behind the counter and stopped right in front of me. It took me a few seconds to register what he had said to me; I lifted up the corner of my jacket and searched in the pocket where I last stuck my wallet in. Opening the worn out thing, I pulled out my ID and placed it down on the bar top. I watched as he slid the card towards him and looked down briefly checking it.

“Jaeger? That’s a weird ass last name.” He flicked the card back towards me and I quickly picked it up off the counter and shoved it back into my wallet.

“It’s German.”

 I noticed a small smirk on his face as he grabbed a glass from under and gently placed it on a small square napkin. He turned to his side facing the seemingly small selection of different liquors, spirits and cocktail mixes. Grabbing a familiar looking bottle, Levi brought his attention back to me.

“I was half expecting you to order some fruity shit. “ He said as he poured straight unto the glass, lifting the bottle up once it reached a certain point.

“Sorry to disappoint. “ I snapped back at him grabbing my drink, I took a large swig of it and as soon as the liquid hit the back of my throat I immediately choked and spat the whiskey out. “I-I’m so sorry!” I rasped still feeling the burn from the whiskey. Levi covered his mouth like to hold back his laughter until he said.

“What the hell did you expect? Juice?” I opened my mouth to retort back until I heard a deep chuckle escape from his lips. He reached under the bar top and grabbed a roll of soft paper towels and handed it to me. I took it hesitantly and started drying my face, and felt myself turn red seeing the elderly woman down my way smile at me. _How embarrassing_. Sighing, I watched him take a bottle of cleaner out and sprayed down the area where the whiskey spit sprayed out. Unrolling a few pieces of paper towels, Levi wiped the area down and threw the dirty ones away (including mine) and took the half empty glass of whiskey and gently tossed it in to a dirty glass bin.

I leaned into the counter, “I’m sorry, I guess I didn’t expect it to be that strong, “laughing a little.

“It’s fine. I’ll make you something else.” With that he got to work making a cocktail for me by the look of what he was putting into it. I wasn’t sure what it was and frankly it looked very unappealing to me. It wasn’t that drinking disgusted me; I just wasn’t that much of drinker to begin with. Occasionally I would go out with Reiner and his friends to a few bars and nightclubs; and at the most I would have two drinks and be pretty content for the rest of the night. My mood quickly soured, I knew going out was a bad idea. It’s like every little thing around me reminded me of him; and I think Levi noticed it too. He set the odd colored cocktail in front of me and went to help his other guests who now began to flock to the bar requesting their choice in beverage.

I leaned over and took a sip of it out of the straw, my eyes widen at how surprisingly good it was. I could still taste the alcohol, but it wasn’t over whelming. Picking up the drink I swiveled around in the stool to watch the other patrons. I couldn’t help but notice the weird ass décor that was everywhere in the small bar. I mean. Everywhere. Masks that looked like they came from Africa, small statues that looked really old, a few things that probably came from around the Middle East and even Asia; I held back a laugh at the really poor choice in decoration for a bar. Normally they have overly cheesy sports memorabilia or maybe follow a theme, but no, Levi’s bar had this strange home feel to it. Maybe that’s why there were a lot of older people here than those of my own age group.

I looked over at the wall closest to me leaning closer to get a good look at the few framed pictures that hung there. It showed two guys and a girl smiling and carrying on, I tried getting a better look at the faces but my view was blocked by Levi leaving the bar area with a tray to go pick up after those who left and give the tables a quick wipe down, continuing to drink I watched him. There I noticed he was probably shorter than me by a few inches. Still he wasn’t bad to look at, short neat black hair shaved into an undercut of some sort, really strong facial features that just stuck out; and oh my god his body, it didn’t help that I could practical see almost all his muscles in that tight black shirt he was wearing.

 _What the hell are you doing Eren?_ Thinking to myself, seriously just got out of a long term relationship, and now I’m sitting over here eyeballing this guy. Continuing to suck on the straw in frustration I noticed that it was empty, _whoa_. I looked at the glass with surprise, It usually too me forever to finish one drink. After chatting with some other patrons, I watched Levi walk back through the swinging door that lead back behind the bar and carefully set all the dirty glasses into the tub that was kept by a tiny sink. I placed the empty glass on the counter for him and gave him a meek smile.

“Do you want another one?”

“Please.”

He quickly began making another one, I turned my head at the sound of the door opening and closing as a few of the other goers began leaving. Levi didn’t even stop making my drink as he waved them a good night. Once it was finished he left in front of me again and turned around to wash the dirty glasses.  I idly sipped on it and began to wonder exactly what time it was, was Mikasa worried? Or maybe what Reiner was doing right now.

“Ugh.” I huffed into my straw. Great, I knew leaving the house was a horrible idea. I kept thinking about him. For two months I stayed locked away in Mikasas’ condo, occasionally leaving to help her with grocery shopping and whatever else she wanted me to tag along with; and I never thought about him, not once. So why now? Maybe because my sister wasn’t here with me, and I’m alone with this _very_ attractive bartender, or…maybe it’s the drinking? Shaking my head with frustration I needed to stop over thinking everything.

I sucked down the last watered down bit and saw that Levi wasn’t there anymore. _He probably went to the back to get something_ , thinking to myself as I pushed my second empty glass away. There were defiantly less people here than when I first arrived. It kind of made me a little uncomfortable, since it left both Levi and me almost alone together. Shaking my head, I really needed to stop overthinking everything again. _Eren this is a patron and bartender relationship right now. You don’t even know he’s gay AND you just met the guy._ Groaning I felt myself grow little lightheaded, probably from sucking two of whatever Levi made me down in a row. Shaking it off, I reached over into my jackets front pocket making sure I didn’t knock the book down in the process and swiped at the screen unlocking it.

I searched for Mikasas name and sent her a quick text asking her to pick me up; as I began the message I stopped, it was a little after midnight. She was either asleep or maybe way over at Jean’s place. To top of it off and I had no freaking idea where I was at nor how far OR even how I ended up here. I dropped my phone on the counter which caused the elderly lady at the counter to almost drop her drink in surprise. I looked over at her and mouthed a sorry. Levi came out from I believed was his office and shot a glare over at me. Watching him talk with the woman as she got up to leave, I huffed and picked up my phone swiping at the screen again idling scrolling through the apps _Well sorry for dropping my phone. I’m sure if I find the main street, I can get back to Mikasa’s._

“Uhhh…” Stopping myself, I couldn’t bring myself to saying his name since I only heard it from that woman who just left. 

“Levi.”

“Oh. I’m Eren.” I automatically said in return.

“I kind of figured since it was written on your ID. “ He said in the driest tone I’ve heard anyone say. “Did you want another drink?” Levi didn’t even wait for my response as he quickly began pouring and shaking the cocktail in a shaker, pouring it in a glass and presenting it in front of me.

“Actually I kind of limit myself to two.” Levi gave me a questioning look after I said that. Was it a strange thing to say? I thought bartenders liked people who knew their limits or something? Or maybe he was expecting to make more money tonight since it was Sunday and all, and it seemed kind of dead when I came in earlier. All kinds of things floated around in my head, but then he said;

“You look like you need it. “

I took it in my hands, pulled the straw out roughly and inhaled the beverage. With shaky hands, I put the cup down and gasped for breath; and I felt wonderful. Leaning over the counter I felt my face grow flush from the alcohol, I didn’t care. This was more relaxing than my hour long shower I had earlier before venturing out into this unknown neighborhood. More relaxing than the tiny dusty bookstore I wandered about in. I forgot about what I planned on doing, forgot about my sister and more importantly; I forgot about Reiner during that moment.

 

I closed my eyes for what felt like a few seconds, but was forced awake by a rough shaking on my shoulders

“Hey! Hey kid you can’t sleep here.” Said a deep familiar voice; “I’m closing up.”

“Reiner?” I mumbled out.

 

It wasn’t him that I saw.

Thanks to the effect of the alcohol I felt hot tears roll down my cheeks; everything from the last two months came flooding in. It was overwhelming; I gritted my teeth trying to stop it.

 _Ah, I was supposed to call her about going home._ I quickly pushed that thought aside, what was the point in calling her now? I’m sure she was worried at this point, no idea what time it was. It was probably late since he was closing the bar up. That didn’t stop me at all; I grabbed on to Levi and awkwardly embraced him, sobbing into his shoulder.

“Why? Why did he fucking cheat on me?! Did two years mean nothing to him?” I pressed my face into Levi and cried the hardest I’ve ever cried. Expecting the other man to push me aside and kick me out since I was obviously drunk at that point, but he didn’t, I felt his arms wrap around me rubbing my back as to soothe me.

“Maybe it’s because you’re a needy brat?” Levi sighed. I must have made a horrible sound since he quickly said, “I’m just kidding. I don’t know why he did it. Hell, I don’t even know who the fuck you’re talking about. “He paused, “But that guy is a shit stain“

I couldn’t help but laugh at the last part. I pulled myself away from Levi’s shoulder and allowed my arms to slide lazily down his back completely avoiding his gaze. “Yeah, he was really shitty about it too. Saying it was my fault and then proceeded kicked me out of our apartment. “I gave a light hearted laugh and it grew silent; I could hear soft ticking from an unseen clock. It was comforting. Still even with help from the ticking, I grew restless, like something needed to be done to ruin this silence.  Licking at my dry lips, I slowly looked up at the man that held me in his arms.

“God, you’re really hot” I slurred out. Levi looked down to meet my gaze and gave me a quizzical look. He opened his mouth to say something but I didn’t even give him the chance. I quickly took the chance and pressed my own mouth against his. Subconsciously I knew that there was a 50/50 chance that I was going to leave with some kind of black eye, or maybe even worse? My eyes widen when I felt him push the kiss back, with more aggression. We started fighting for dominance, I moaned hard when his tongue pushed itself deep into my mouth. I tangled my fingers into his hair and arched myself as close as I could get myself into him, licking and biting his lips. It wasn’t until we heard my phone and book fall along with my jacket that snapped us back into reality.

“I—“ I started to say quickly but was stopped by him.

“Let’s go upstairs to my apartment. I rather not get the bar dirty.”

I watched as he picked up my fallen things and felt his hand grab on to my own. Any doubt I had before was gone as I followed him closely behind.

 

 


	3. Dirty Love

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey sorry it took so long.  
> again.
> 
> ahhh  
> pls be gentle at the smut part i tried, i really spent 99% of the time writing it. lmao  
> merry christmas tho guys~ 
> 
> next chapter will be in levi's POV so that will be fun!

When the door opened I felt the bitter cold sobered me up, I breathed out harshly watching the wisp of visible air float off. Levi let go out my hand for a moment pulling out a set of keys, the sound of the door locking was my cue to take his hand again; I followed close behind Levi, holding on to his hand tightly as possible as we walked together. My heart thumped against my chest as we ascended the stairs that were conveniently tucked away behind the bar itself. My hand tightened around his as we stopped in front of his apartment’s door. I freed my hand from his grip and pulled myself closer to the warmth of his body, wrapping my arms around him, as he took his keys from his pocket.  As he pushed the door Levi twisted himself out of my grasp so he was facing me, pressing his lips against my own as we made an awkward attempt in entering the living room; casually throwing aside my things on to the couch that sat near by the door. Kissing him while trying to maintain my balance wasn’t exactly working out, I had to bend my head down just low enough for him; which normally would have been an easy task since the height gap wasn’t huge, but being drunk seemed to make everything extra difficult.

Levi bit and nipped at my lips as he took the lead towards a hallway running his hands down my chest and under my shirt, I moaned against his mouth as he slipped his tongue in.  Occasionally we tripped and bumped into the walls of the narrow hall as neither of us wanted to part away. I pulled at his shirt upward gesturing for him to take it off, I felt him smirk against my mouth as he distanced himself from me to remove his tight black shirt. He grabbed the collar of my V-neck and yanked me into the master bedroom.  I didn’t even have time to take note of Levi’s upper body when I felt my body pushed on to the soft plush bed.

Suddenly a wave of light headedness hit me hard causing me to sit back up making the motion to cover my mouth. Nausea.

“Don’t go throwing up on my bed, kid. Or I’ll kick your ass out in a heartbeat.” Levi said as he straddled my waist.

“N-no I’m fine, just that it kind of surprise—“I groaned as he rocked against me. “F-fuck” He bent over and trailed along my neck up with his tongue to my ear, giving it a quick nip. Turning my head to face the other man I subconsciously licked my own lips. Luckily Levi took the hint and pressed our lips once again together. He pulled away ending it all too quickly, moving himself off of my waist.

“Take your clothes off and lay down properly”

I did as I was told, uncoordinated as I currently was, sat up and began to remove my constricting clothing. A gentle toss of my long sleeve shirt and my pants along with my boxers and shoes quickly joined them on the floor in some unknown location, I’ll find them later. Laying back on his plush bed my head met the pillows. Luckily for me the room wasn’t completely lit up nor was it dark I could still make out his silhouette. I watched him as he pulled his jeans slowly off, as if he was teasing me. The bed dipped around me as he crawled over me and kissed around my stomach, he spread my legs apart and I let out a small moan when I felt his mouth on the inside of my thigh. Licking, nipping and sucking on the skin there, oh god. Fuck it felt amazing, was two months without any kind of skin ship really left a huge impact on my sex life?

I was quickly snapped out of my thoughts when Levi grabbed my half hard dick in his hand, pumping it a few times before giving it a long slow lick.

“Ohgod!” I yelled out in surprise. That earned a deep chuckle from the other man as he continuously stroked my length. He twirled his tongue around the tip, stopping to give it a gentle suck. Levi bobbed his head around it causing me to bite down on my lower lip trying to suppress the sounds that were leaking from my mouth. I really didn’t want to sound like some virgin brat. That probably amused Levi greatly, he finally let go of my dick with a pop.

“Has it been a while for you?”  Levi whispered as he reached over my head for the nightstand that held a small lamp, a phone charger cord and what looked like an ash tray sitting on it. He pulled open the drawer part of it and took out the obvious supplies needed. Condoms and lubricant. I kept quiet as he ripped the foil package open and rolled the condom down his own length.  “I’ll take that as a yes. “ He flipped the cap of the lube open and poured a generous amount on his fingers. My tongue swiped at my dry lips as I watched the hand disappear, I gasped at the sudden intrusion at my entrance.

My voice hitched as Levi’s fingers curled inside of me, scissoring and occasionally hitting that spot deep inside causing me to moan loudly. “N-no more Levi, I’m ready” Gasping as I rocked against his hand moaning, throwing all reasoning out the door. I needed this right now. Levi quickly pulled his fingers out and felt around searching for the abandoned bottle, picking it up and squeezed the liquid on to his erect cock giving it a few strokes before releasing the almost empty bottle and tossing it to the side.  He repositioned himself between my legs, pressing the tip against my entrance and gave a not too gentle thrust. I winced at causing him to stop.

“Are you okay?” I could only give him a quick nod.  He gave a few experimental rolls with his hips watching my reaction. Pushing in slowly until he was completely inside, satisfied he speed up his movements. The sound of skin against skin filled the room. It was a messy sound a sort of disgusting sound. I moaned wantonly as I felt him rub against that particular spot deep inside. Levi must have caught on to it. Suddenly he increased his tempo and continuously abused it, grunting with every thrust.

I jerked up and wrapped my arms under his own, digging my nails into his back.  It felt extremely incredible.  When our lips crashed together his tongue prod into my mouth, I greedily accepted it and opened my mouth wider allowing him to explore deep inside. I pulled back and hissed harshly when Levi wrapped a hand around my dick and stroked at it with an aggressive pace.  

“Fuck I’m--!” I clenched my teeth and a hot flash when my orgasm hit its peak. He released my cock and pushed me back down onto the bed thrusting in an almost desperate motion. Levi pressed his head into my neck and bit down on my shoulder groaning as he came. “Wow.” I panted. The bed moved as he pulled out of me and discarded the used condom in the waste basket nearby. He smiled a bit as he pushed his hair back leaning down to give me a quick kiss.

“That good?”

“Mm. “I managed to mumble out before I felt my eyelids grow heavy.

 

 

Again, in a familiar feeling of someone gently shaking my body, I must have fallen asleep again. I sat up in the soft bed and rubbed my eyes groaning at the throbbing from my head and body.

“Here. “

There stood Levi, dressed in only loose fitting PJ bottoms his hair was wet meaning he just showered not that long ago, holding a glass of water and something else in his hand. He passed the glass to me and motioned for me to open my other hand. There sat two small brownish pills. I gave him a quizzical look and held up my hand that had the pills in it.

“Don’t worry it’s just ibuprofen. It’ll help.” He chuckled at my expression. “Trust me. “

I popped the pills into my mouth, while still staring at him and took a long greedy drink from the water. Sighing as I lowered the glass from my mouth. “What time is it?”

“Just about to be three,” Levi took the less than full glass from me and gently placed it on the night stand.

“Three?!” I exclaimed. “Oh my god she’s going to murder me.” All I could do was picture my sisters face as I walk through the front door. I’m sure should would push out every little detail I did and question me nonstop on why I didn’t come home until the early morning. The whole thing was giving me a headache. Then again, maybe she went over to Jean’s house to spend the night after their date? Leaving the condo completely empty, which hopefully, is the case? Then I wouldn’t have to explain anything.  Levi looked down at me unsure. “I live with my sister.”

“Oh. I guess we should get you home then? Don’t want to worry your dear sister any longer. “He smirked causing me to frown. “That’s cute.”

“Ha. Ha. Funny.” But he was right. “I bet it’s still cold out there.”

“You didn’t drive?” He asked as he rummaged through a dresser looking for something warmer to wear I assumed.

“No. I walked from the Trost complex.” Levi paused while throwing a dark green sweater over his head and shot me a bewildered look like I was crazy.

“What?” I shot back at him.

“There’s only one place that goes by that name, and it’s a good hike from here. It’s on 20th and 5th street, right?” The shirt slipped over without a hitch.

“Yeah…” Where was he going with this?

“Kid, the bar and my apartment are on Karanese and East ave.”

 _Jesus Christ_. I knew just enough about the streets to know exactly how far I had venture out. The distance between the two neighborhoods was roughly two or so miles apart. Although I wasn’t too surprised, I used to take off and walk for miles when I was younger. It was a stress reliever for me; it always worried mom and Mikasa to death, because no know would really know where I would end up. It’s been a while since I last did it though, and to end up out in the middle of nowhere Downtown.

“I don’t mind driving out there. I’m just shocked you walked from there to my bar and in this shitty ass weather.”

I gave him a small smile, “Yeah I used to do it a lot when I was a kid. I was either fighting or running off to god knows where.” Stopping myself, “I should get my clothes.”

“They’re on the end of the bed. “ Levi motioned over to where my abandoned clothes sat, including my faux lined jacket, phone and book. I leaned over towards my things and slid off the soft bed. As I got dressed, I swiped at my phones screen to see if I had any messages. But the damn thing wasn’t turning off. _Great, it’s dead._ At least I’ll be able to tell Mikasa my phone died and wasn’t able to get a hold of her. Perfect. I shoved the damn thing into the back pocket of my jeans and noticed Levi wasn’t in the room. I slipped on my trusty TOMs and walked out of his bedroom into the small living room.  He was wearing what looked like a modern styled parka that looked like it devoured his body, making him look wider than he actually was. “Ready to go?” Levi asked as I walked across the living room. I gave him a nod and he opened the front door letting in the crisp air in. I shivered as the cold wind came blowing in as we both exit his apartment heading down the staircase and out to the end of an alleyway.

Levi pointed to a white obvious out of date car and we shuffled towards it. ”Sorry the door’s lock on that side doesn’t work, so I’ll have to open the door for you.” He unlocked his door with a quick jingle of his keys. Levi got into the driver’s seat and leaned over to pull the lock up on the passenger side.  The inside of the car was unfortunately cold as the outside. The familiar sound of the ignition starting up filled the air. We sat as the heater slowly filled the car with warmth, waiting for the engine to warm up as well. Once Levi was satisfied he switched gears to drive and we left the cramp alley.

The drive itself was quit, only the soft mumble from the radio kept it from being completely silent.   I made passing glances at Levi and admiring how sharp his jaw line was. How those dark circles under his eyes made him look mysterious. That perpetual stoic expression he had most of the time.  It was funny, not even a few hours ago we were tangled together. I opted to look out the slightly frosted window watching the passing by buildings until I finally caught site of some familiar ones. The small bookstore with the darken windows, that local grocers that Mikasa enjoyed going to even though things were more expensive there than at a big name one. I spent my last few months trapped inside trying to avoid any kind of human contact. It stopped me from seeing this, the lightly powered snow on top of the buildings, how it got dark after 5pm, and how everything seemed to stand still. I forgot how much I loved it.

“It’s okay to drop you off at the front?” Levi asked, snapping me out of my daze.

“Huh...Yeah that’s fine, we live on the inside towards the back.”

He stopped exactly at the front entrance to the condos; Levi kept his hands on the stirring wheel making no effort to unlocking the doors. “Eren,” he began, “I didn’t mean for that to happen. When I saw your face earlier tonight, I-“He paused, “knew something was bothering you.” Levi looked over at me and continued, “I’m not looking for a relationship.” That part came out pretty bluntly, but I understood what he was saying. I shouldn’t even consider one since it had only been two months.

“Hey! I totally understand, besides I just got out of a shit relationship. “

“Ah that’s right. With that reindeer or something guy right?” Levi said thoughtfully.

I couldn’t help but laugh, I honestly wasn’t sure if he was being a dick about him or playing it off if he forgot his name. “It’s Reiner.”

“Yeah that guy.” He ran his hand against the shaved part of his head, “Anyways, I wouldn’t mind seeing you again. Maybe for coffee or lunch, maybe even hooking up again?”

“Like...friends with benefits’?”  I casually asked. I knew of a few people at my previous job who were like that.

“Mm. Yeah that works.” Levi leaned back in his seat and withdrew his phone from the front of his jackets pocket. “Here,” He handed it to me; his phone was an older model of my own that was quite worn down. It showed that he really didn’t care for it, or maybe owned it forever. “Put your number in there and I’ll text you with mine later.” I quickly accessed the address book putting my number down along with my name. I debated on putting my last name, but really? How many Eren’s does this guy know?  I hand his phone back to him and smiled.

“Then I guess I’ll see you later.”

“Yeah,” He said softly as he leaned in and placed a light kiss on my lips. I fumbled blushing furiously as I opened the door to my side. The crunch of the pavement meet me as I exited his car, I waved him a quick goodbye as I briskly walked towards the known condos ahead. Over hearing the sound of the tires to his car squealing as he drove off.

 I sluggishly reached into my coats pocket to find the spare key to the condo. My mind was a mess, my stomach was screaming at me, and well the rest of my body was wonderfully sore. I thought about what Levi had told me in the car. Do I really look that bad towards other people? Luckily I was able to open the door without a problem. Shoving the key back into my pocket, I took my jacket off and hanged it where the other ones were.

I noticed a familiar jacket on one of the pegs near Mikasa’s; it was one of those really ugly puffy jackets that would make you look like the Michelin Man if the damn thing was white. Remembering who owned said jacket made me thankful this particular one was a navy blue, so it didn’t look as stupid on him. I slipped my shoes off near where the other pairs of shoes hung around by the door. Why my sister just had to have white carpet was beyond me, the floor was a pain to keep clean and she was pretty anal retentive about keeping it cleans. My body swayed around as I stood at the front door. I blinked a couple of times before my legs decided to move. Everything felt like lead as I made my way pass the small kitchenette, stopping only to see the refrigerator light was on.

A million things ran through my buzzed stupor, was it a burglar who got hungry? Was Mikasa okay? I’m sure the owner of that ugly jacket was here to protect her, right? Or at least she was the one doing the protecting. I walked as silently as I could up to the little buffet that annoyingly prevents my view of the intruder.  I glanced at the fridge and over at the light switch near on the small of the wall and back to the fridge.  I had no choice; I flipped the switch and quickly moved from the ‘safety’ of the buffet.

There I saw it. In all of its pale disgusting glory.

Jean Krischtein’s ass.

Not just the ‘lovely’ cheeks. No. I saw everything that could make a small child cry.

 “What the fuck are you doing horseface!?” I screamed at him, a thud came and he quickly straightened himself up and stared at me in disbelief. Jean was completely nude; I had to cover my eyes with my forearm just to keep myself from seeing a particular thing that would probably ruin my eyesight for the rest of my life.

“Eren! Its four o’clock what the hell are you doing back so late?! “He totally ignored the horse comment and continued his lecture like he was my father, “Mikasa was worried sick! She sent you countless texts to your shitty phone and you never replied. “Jean shouted at me

“First cover your stupid dick and then maybe I’ll tell you why I never answered!” I barked back uncovering my eyes, but keeping my gaze around the floor. He gasped and oddly enough there was a vanilla colored sheet on the floor. It probably fell off of him earlier when I scared him. I turned my head to the sound of a running Mikasa she had this look of complete shocked? Relief? Worry? Anger? I couldn’t tell what was running through her mind.

“Do you know how many times I texted you? How many messages I left? I—I was afraid you might have gone and done something stupid...” Her voice lowered to a low whisper, I caught her tearing up.

“Mikasa,” I started. She wasn’t in the **wrong** that I had done something stupid, or at least completely out of character for me. I couldn’t tell her the exact truth that I went to a stranger’s apartment and had sex with him. Mikasa always knew how to read people. It kind of made me uncomfortable how she was able to do that. “I went down to that bookstore and then I went to a bar that was kind of near there…”

“But I thought you disliked drinking?”

“I do…but, when I left the bookstore and saw it was still early and it was just right there. I got a little curious and decided to check it out.” Pausing for a moment to see if she was following along without doubt, “It was really nice! Kind of empty with just a few older couples there, the bartender was really friendly. She...I and talked a lot about things. “

“Oh. “

“Mmm. She made me some weird drinks, and I ended up falling asleep there. Luckily she was really cool about it and offered me a ride back here.”

“That’s good. It was really cold outside, and I know you left wearing the bare minimal.”

I noticed Jean staring me down like he didn’t believe a single thing I said. It didn’t matter if he believed me or not, as long as Mikasa did that’s all that mattered to me.  He grabbed me by both shoulders, roughly turning me to face him. _Oh no_ , I felt an all too well-known feeling climbing up my tightening throat.

I vomited.

Not on the floor, but all over the front of Jean. I swear to God I’ve never heard a man scream the way he did as soon as it hit him. Soon there was a flurry of movements, Jean yelling and screaming at me; Mikasa keeping him calm and shouting over his yelling about showering while she cleaned the mess up. A damp cloth was roughly rubbed on my face. She ended up kicking me from the kitchen after my face was considered clean enough. I didn’t fight back at that either, instead I threw myself on the couch. It never felt so wonderful normally it was uncomfortable, but tonight it was the most welcoming feeling. I closed my eyes and passed out hard.

I awoke hours later from sounds coming from the kitchen, feeling refreshed from the previous night. Mikasa was in there pacing around probably cooking something. I didn’t smell anything so maybe she just started? I rolled myself up into a sitting position, my stomach still felt like shit; but it was tolerable.

“Morning Mikasa,” I mumbled sleepily, “What time is it?”

“2:56pm.” She stopped whatever nonsense she was doing in the kitchen to peek over the buffet, “Feeling better?” Nodding my head I stood up from the comfort of the couch and stretched my stiff muscles. Even though it could be a pretty comfortable couch, it wasn’t long enough for me to actually stretch out. I raised my right arm up to pop my back instead I felt a sharp pain on my shoulder, _oh_ , I hesitantly thought. “Sorry for waking you, but Krista called asking if she could borrow one of my round cake pans.” Mikasa continued.

“I didn’t know Krista could bake.”  

“She can’t,” Mikasa let out a soft snicker, “but she wants to _try_ baking Ymir’s favorite cake for their anniversary. So I thought I would help her out.” The clanging of pans continued as Mikasa went back to looking for it. I smiled as I exited the living room, walking down the hall way and stopping in front of my room.  I pressed my forehead on the cool door and exhaled heavily. Twisting the knob to the right the door creaked open.  Mentally telling myself I should take a hot shower today instead of my normal cool ones. Searching the floor for something that I had only worn once before (it would seem like a waste to wear something new if I wasn’t going out). Settling on a pair of navy blue sweat pants, I quickly scooped them up and grabbed a worn out grey shirt and other essentials from the drawers.

I practically flew to the bathroom not wanting to risk running into Jean (who I assumed was there since he never worked Mondays). The door shut with ease with the lock clicking into place. I sighed as I lifted up my shirt from up and over my head; I was hit with the faint smell of stale cigarettes and cologne I didn’t recognize, instantly I thought of Levi being the owner of it. I tossed the damn thing on to the floor and looked at the bite mark on my shoulder. The fuzzy memories from last night came flooding in. “Really dude…” I mumbled to myself. Luckily it looked bruised in coloring so coming up with an excused for it will be pretty easy. The remainder of my clothes came off in a rush as I turned the jet stream on and jumped into the shower.

The hot water did wonders on my sore body. The bite on my shoulder stung a bit as the water abused it. I did my normal shower routine and quickly got dressed in my clean clothes tossing the dirty ones with the used towel into the hamper; I examined my shoulder/neck area in the mirror making sure that the bite was hidden well enough not to raise any suspensions. I overheard some laughing coming from the living room. The voices both sound feminine so rule out Jean still being here, one I knew belonged to Mikasa; but the other one I wasn’t sure who, maybe one of her co-workers? Originally I had planned on going back into my room and just watch some crap on YouTube on my phone. I kind of wanted to know who it was, so I threw out that plan quickly and padded into the living room.

Mikasa was leaning over the buffet chatting away with a small petite blonde girl who sat on the stool across from her. The both had cups in front of them and the room was thick with the smell of coffee. It took me a minute to recognize who it was sitting across from her. “Hey! I didn’t know you were coming over today.” Krista turned her head and gave me a smile. I walked up behind her giving her a hug. “Ah, why don’t you ever come over more often?” I gave her a sort of mock angry pout.

She giggled at my poor attempt, “I’m sorry. Things got really hectic at work since we lost three of the other nurses.”

“That sounds awful.” I slide myself on to the extra stool next to her. Mikasa had left where she was standing only to grab another one of her tacky mugs and poured coffee into it. Handing it to me, she walked over to the armchair close to us and sat down holding her own cup in her hands tightly. “Did they all get fired or something?” Krista shook her head at my question.

“Actually they all went on maternity leave.” Mikasa stated, “We were actually just talking about that before you decided to grace us.” She teased.

“Oh forgive me! I didn’t realize I couldn’t partake in this conversation because I’m a guy.” I woefully said.

Mikasa shot me a dirty look before continuing what she and Krista were talking about. They droned on and on for what seemed like hours about babies, the coworkers that left, and ones that might be leaving because work is so hard. Mikasa piped in about her own rough patches at work and make a slight joke about how it’s in the water. I didn’t understand that and I really didn’t want to. We gossiped and I casually mentioned that I remember seeing Jean’s ass last night causing Krista to laugh hard and earning me an extremely dirty look from my sister. Still, it was nice to be able to see Krista again; both she and Ymir were pretty close with Mikasa outside of Armin and Annie. So I started seeing those two more than I normally did before after I moved in with her. They never pried into my business nor really asked why I moved here. So having them over was a nice change of pace. I stared down at my now empty cup in front of me lost in my own thoughts until I felt a gentle tap on my shoulder.

“Eren is everything okay?”  Krista had asked, both her and Mikasa where dressed for the elements and Krista was holding a bag presumably with the pans she had come to borrow.

“Huh? Oh yeah. I guess I’m getting tired…” I stood up from the stool and walked over to the sink, setting the cup in it. Looking up at the small clock that flashed on the microwave, _5:30pm_ , “Maybe I’ll take a quick nap.”

“Okay.” Krista said with a smile, “Maybe I’ll try coming by again sooner than later.”

“Definitely.”

Before leaving the condo Mikasa faced me, “I’m going to give her a hand with the baking. So I’ll be home later on tonight. Can you do the dishes when you get up?”

“No problem.” The door shut quickly to avoid letting the cold air in. I put my nap aside to put the used dishes in the dishwasher since I’m sure I wouldn’t feel up to doing it after sleeping. Luckily it was only a few and it wouldn’t need to run. So after setting the last of the cups on the top rack, I closed it and headed back to my room. I sat on the bed noticing my phone was sitting peacefully on the charger “Thanks Mikasa.”At least I hoped she was the one who did it. Laying back I picked it up, pressing the bottom button turning the screen on.  I noticed there was a text from a number I didn’t recognize.

_Hey brat, it’s Levi._

Oh. I couldn’t help but laugh at the curt text he left. It definitely sounded like him. I swiped at the screen having it take me to the text message. Where I promptly saved his number into my contact list and sent him a quick hello as a reply. After it sent, I went back to the other texts that had saved up. Going through all the newer texts I had received earlier that night from Mikasa. I promptly read them all and deleted as I went. I had ten or so from her, on top of the five short ones I got from Jean (I didn’t have his number saved, but I recognized his stupid number). Rolling my eyes I pressed the bottom button on the phone to take me back to the home screen. I stared at my phone, idling going through the different apps I had on it before giving up on doing anything else on it; I didn’t feel like watching anything now. I slipped my phone under my pillow before lying down completely. As soon as I was completely relaxed, my eyes fluttered shut. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> eren obviously loves to sleep


	4. Luncheons

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> hello friends! forgive me for taking forever, but man, writing in levi's POV proved very hard for me.   
> i must note that i did indeed make hanji female in this, because i feel she is female. haha ahh so yeah   
> she'll make an actual appearance later on don't worry, on top of a few other characters.

I squeezed my eyes tightly trying to ignore the obnoxious thumping sound my phone produced while it vibrated aggressively against the wood. As much as I tried, I couldn’t ignore it anymore. My hand clawed its way to the piece of shit that stopped vibrating for a single second then started up again. I grabbed it with half the heart to throw it against the far side wall away from my bed. Instead I pressed answer on the screen and held it up to my ear. I didn’t even have to read to know exactly who was calling me.

“ _Erwin.”_ I snapped into the phone. “This better be fucking important, so help me I will rip your balls off and feed them to you.”

“What time did you fall asleep?” The voice calmly asked ignoring my half assed threat.

“Around five or something.” Mumbling as I pulled the phone away from my ear to check the time, _really asshole_ , it was barely eight. Meaning I had only gotten at the most three hours of precious sleep. Sitting up from the comfort of my pillows I put the phone on speaker, setting it next to the ashtray while I crawled out of the warmth.

“Sorry. I assumed you would have closed early last night.” Right you were. I did close earlier than I usually did, since I normally ended up with one or maybe two left over. Usually, I might add, but last night ended up differently than I imagined. Grumbling to myself I managed to drag my ass out of bed and rubbed the shaved part of my head. Every part of me felt like lead as I got to work straightening the sheets and putting the comforter back in its proper place at the end on the bed folded neatly. Pillows were put back were they belonged and I admired my handy work before directing my attention back to the phone, grabbing the damn thing I put it up to my ear after switching from speaker.

“I did, but unlike a certain old man I know of; I usually don’t go straight to bed after 8pm.” I snorted irritably. A deep chuckled escaped the speaker of the phone causing me to roll my eyes. Erwin always seemed to find my snarky remarks funny. I guess it came with age. My hand snaked over to the ashtray that peacefully sat and grabbed a half of a burned down cigarette. I plucked it up and carefully placed it in between my lips while balancing the phone on my shoulder. Quickly finding the lighter with a few clicks of it, I re-lite the stub and inhaled deeply, the smoke wafted away as I pulled the cigarette out from my mouth. The bitter almost sweet taste was just enough to almost wake me up. Of course a large cup of coffee from down the street would do even more wonders, but that could wait. “So what was so goddamn important that it couldn’t wait until lunch?”

“Hanji called me this morning.”

“What?”

“Ah. A client walked in right now, I’ll tell you more when I see you later.” With that the other line went dead. That bastard. I clicked my tongue in irritation and gave my phone a not so gentle toss on the nightstand, roughly putting out what was left of the cigarette. I was wide awake and now pissed off at Erwin for bringing her up. Why couldn’t he have waited until we met up for lunch? Sighing I had remembered that I needed to go downstairs and finish cleaning up, since I had neglected doing so.

I walked to the dresser that sat near the closet, pulling the top drawer open I went through the different tops that occupied it. Finally settling on a greyish blue knitted sweater that was a little too big for me despite washing it on hot so many times, I threw it on top of the dresser and went into another drawer pulling out a white undershirt and of course clean underwear. I gave taking another shower a debate since I had already taken one last night. It would seem like a waste. Plus I heard or read somewhere over showering might make your hair fall off? Maybe it was Erwin who told me and I brushed it off as some old man stupidly stressing about his hair thinning. I decided against it altogether.

Quickly grabbing my phone and slipping it into my back pocket I exited the room fully dressed in something warmer than just plain pajama bottoms, I padded into the small bathroom and gave my face a wash and brushed my teeth. As much as I enjoyed smoking I hated the after taste of cigarettes. Exhaling as I dried my face on a hand towel. I took note of the darkening circles around my eyes.  “Thanks Erwin,” grumbling against the towel. I hung it back on the bar next to the sink neatly and left the bathroom.

I grabbed my keys off of the coffee table and slipped my shoes on, giving a moment to decide if I needed another sweater or jacket before leaving. _Nah_ , I thought to myself. I’ll be inside again anyways. The door opened with ease and I walked out shutting and locking it behind me. Thankfully it wasn’t that cold making the walk down the stairs bearable. Before I was half way down them I noticed a familiar strawberry blonde head of hair rushing over to the back of the bar.

“Petra.” I called out to the owner. She stopped in her tracks and turned to face me, her face lightly pink from being out in the cold. Petra smiled cheerfully when she spotted me up above.

“Ah! Good morning boss!”

“What are you doing here so early?” I paced down the steps carefully, and joined her over by the back door. “You’re not scheduled until tonight.”

“Yes, I was bringing my availability for next semester.” Petra flashed a white envelope handing it over to me. I accepted it ripping the side of the envelope open, unfolding the paper that rested inside. Carefully scanning the contents of it, I made a low hum of approval as I refolded it neatly.

“Wow, only three days?”

“Ugh.” She let out a groan, “I’m getting close to being done. So the rest of the classes are piling up!”  

“Well I’m glad you’re free on Friday and Saturday at least.” I gave her a smile as I fished out the keys from my pocket, “C’mon.” Opening the door and holding it open for her. Petra walked in and I followed behind, giving the door a harsh pull. The lights came on automatically as we both walked out from the back. I grimaced at the glasses that sat in the dish tub and the noticeable water stains that stuck out on the counter top. Petra had noticed it as well and gave me a curious look. I had hired her four years ago, right when she turned 21. At first I was skeptical about hiring someone without any known experience; but Petra had proved that she was more than skilled enough to work under me as one of my favorite employees.

Unfortunately that meant she knew my habits pretty well. I honestly couldn’t put anything pass her. Petra scooted closer to me as she took her jacket off and hanged it off the small row of hooks that were hidden away from patrons’ eyes. She had this smile on her face that made me groan, “What.” I flatly said.

“Who was it?”

“I need to clean.”

“Levi!” She pouted, “…if I help you, will you tell me?”

Ah, that sneaky girl. I gave her a glancing look as I rolled up my sleeves. Petra followed my example and pulled out a rubber hair band, tying her blonde hair in a short sloppy bun. She put her hands on her hips, I couldn’t say no to her after that adorable display. “Okay, but it better be to my exact expectations.” Smirking as I grabbed one of the dish tubs.

 

Thanks to Petra’s help, we were able to get the bar cleaned under an hour. I leaned back in a booth sighing as my head rested on the plush backing. Petra had offered to grab coffee after we had finished putting the last rack of glasses away. The clock on the back wall ticked as I closed my eyes trying to ignore the pounding of my head.  I greatly craved a cigarette, but it was best to wait for Petra to return since the front door wasn’t unlocked from the outside. I reached into my back pocket and pulled out my shit of a phone. Pressing the center button the phone flashed on, I swiped at the bottom part of the screen and typed my code in with ease. I rolled my thumb over the screen idling letting it alternate between screens.  Glancing at the useless apps I had allowed some people to install over the years I’ve owned it. My thumb idly went over to the contacts aimless scrolling down until I spotted that familiar name.

I pressed his name and selected the option for a new message; I idled for a moment thinking of what to type. The phone was turned sideways giving me the larger keyboard for easier typing. I briskly typed a short message to the kid and pressed the send button. As soon as the sending bar disappeared I heard a loud knock on the front door, followed by a muffled call of my name. Sliding myself away from the comfort of the booth, I stood up and walked over to the old wood doors.

The door opened with easy and Petra quickly shuffled inside. She held two large Styrofoam cups of coffee. The lid of one of them had a faint smudge of her lipstick. Petra handed me the other cup and I graciously accepted it. I took a long sip of the hot liquid feeling refresh. “Thank you Petra.” I smiled against the top of the cup. She gave me smile and took a sip from hers. We sat back down in the booth close to the door.

“So…”

Almost forgot.

“His name is Eren.”

“His? But I thought you were straight?” Petra innocently asked.

“Mm…Not exactly, but not exactly gay either” It was strange I never really thought too much into it. I enjoyed the company of both men and women, and kept it at that. I rarely brought up my own sex life unless prompt. Now that I think about it, what did someone say I was? My vision was shifted to the white cup in front of me. I lifted it up and took another sip. Luckily for me Petra didn’t push that particular subject.

“He must have been something to get you to completely ditch cleaning.”

“Kind of…he, “I paused, “had this look on his face that reminded me of myself.” She brought her own cup up to her lips and sipped silently. I dragged my thumbnail against the soft Styrofoam aimless making shapes on it. “Plus he wasn’t half bad to look at either.”

Petra giggled softly and leaned in close towards me. I felt the weight of her head on my shoulder. We sat together in silence as I continued to drink my coffee. Sadly the peaceful moment was ruined by an obnoxious sound coming from Petra’s purse. She quickly perked up and slid out from the other side of the booth. Her boots clicked on the hardwood floor as she walked to where everything was hanging. I watched as she pulled her phone out with the ugly rabbit case.

“Who is it?” I asked with a slight smirk knowing exactly who it was. Petra was pulling her jacket down along with her purse.

“You know who it is exactly.” Petra said teasingly as slipped her jacket over her shoulders, “Sorry to leave so sudden, but I forgot I promised him to go down to the college together for our books.”

I shook my head, “It’s alright.” Taking one last sip from my coffee I stood up from the booth clutching the now empty cup in my hand. “It’s about time I head out to meet Erwin anyways.”

“Oh how is he lately?”

“He’s fine.” I peeked down at my phone, Erwin’s name flashed across it, “Speak of the devil,” below his name Erwin thoughtfully left the restaurant’s name where he wanted to meet up for lunch. The name was familiar and I grimaced inwardly at the thought of going down to Main Street, having to deal with shitty kids flooding the streets. I picked up the phone and slipped it into my back pocket, joining Petra by the front doors.

“Sounds like it.” She smiled brightly as I opened the old wooden door and letting her exit first. The door made a click sound as it locked behind us, giving it a quick jerk of the handle making sure the door stayed locked. The streets were already filled with more people rushing around, going on about their business. I spotted a few street venders already setting up their shops around the larger buildings that housed bank branches and whatever else was there. “Well tell him I said hello!”

“Will do, take care Petra.” Petra waved to me as she walked off to where ever she had parked, and that was my cue to head to mine. I took my keys out and unclasped the ones for the bar and put those back into my pocket. Shuffling to the driver’s side of my shitty car I unlocked the door and slipped inside. I roughly shoved the key into the ignition and the car began to vibrate and the radio to tune in. I leaned back into my seat letting the engine warm up since I had made the mistake of not letting it do that before driving off. This caused a very un-needed and expensive repair bill. As I waited for it to warm up, I reached into the glove department and took out a half empty pack of cigarettes. Pulling out one, I placed it between my lips as I glanced around for a lighter that for whatever reason was hidden in the cup holder. Lighting it up and taking a deep inhale of the nicotine, I sighed in relief as the buzz hit my lungs.

The drive to what was known as Main Street was a painful drive in itself; people flooded the streets like it was straight out of the bible. I seethed as I tried to avoid hitting some idiotic hipster fucks chatting away while I tried to park as close as I could to our meeting spot. “Erwin you’re giving me even more reasons to rip your dick off and feed it to you for lunch.” Said out loudly as I pulled into a parking garage that was close to where the restaurant was at. Thankfully it wasn’t as cold as it was earlier so making my choice not to bring my big ass parka with me was the right one. I walked down into the sidewalk area which many shopping centers existed, making Main Street a prime area to have shitty little luncheons like the one I’m having with Erwin. I sighed heavily; the lack of sleep was hitting me harder than I had anticipated, even with the large coffee I had not even an hour ago. Because I was a notorious light sleeper I often had days where I would go on with only two or four hours of sleep, often I wondered if that bastard Erwin took advantage of that. Soon I was at the small café where Erwin had wanted to meet. That bastard wasn’t there so I took it upon myself to take a seat out in the outside area.

A blonde boy who was maybe around my own height walked up to the table with a large smile on his face. “Hello, my name is Armin and I’ll be serving you today.” He placed one menu down and a set of silverware rolled into a napkin in front of me.

“Actually another person will be joining me.”

“My apology,” he gave me a nervous smile as he placed another set and menu out across from me. “Would you like anything to drink while you wait?”

“The strongest coffee you have.”

Armin gave me a curt nod and jolted it down on his notepad and walked off. I picked up the thin menu and glanced over it. The young waiter came back promptly with a cup that looked wide enough to hold soup in. He set the cup down along with sugars and a smaller cup that had a spout at the end, along with two glasses of ice water sporting a lemon wedge on the top. Just as he was about to walk off to help another table a very familiar voice called out to me.

“Levi! Sorry I’m late.” The owner of the voice promptly appeared next to Armin, over shadowing the poor boy. He took his seat across from me, “Did you order already?”  Erwin Smith who was one of the few people I could call a true friend. He stood at a whooping six foot two, blonde hair and blue eyes. Erwin had that annoying constant poker face as some described which made him a perfect lawyer.

“No.” I flatly said as I picked up the cup of coffee and taking a refreshing sip from it. “But I already decided what I want.” Armin took the hint and whipped out his notebook and gave a nervous smile at the both of us. In which Erwin picked up his menu and scanned over it. I sighed and looked over at Armin, “I’ll have the pear and pomegranate salad.”

“And I’ll have the French dip.” Erwin smiled as he took my menu and handed them both to the blonde kid.

“Would you like anything to drink, sir?” Armin asked looking over at Erwin.

“I’m fine with water.”

The boy nodded and jolted everything down and walked off. My attention went straight to the annoyingly cheerful man in front of me. “What did she tell you?” I watched as Erwin sighed and give me a sad smile. Instantly that annoyed me even more than I already was.

“She’s coming back to the states,” He paused as reached over for his glass of water and took a long drink from it, setting it down he continued, “Hanji said her contract is over in the middle of December and she’s looking forward to seeing everyone again. I’m positive that includes you.”

Suddenly my mouth was dry, yet I didn’t want to drink anything of the things I had in front of me. I knew it was true. Erwin wasn’t the type who would lie or exaggerate to a friend to purposely hurt them. We sat in silence until Armin walked up balancing a tray gracefully on his hand. He placed our orders in front of us and gave us a quick smile before going off to his other tables. “What else did she tell you?”

Erwin stopped unrolling his silverware from the napkin setting it down beside his plate. He shook his head, “We both talked about a living arrangement since knowing her, she doesn’t plan until it’s the last minute and…I happened to mentioned that you had that extra room.”

That was true. Although November had barely two weeks left, “That room is full of extra shit for the bar. I don’t have any space for it in the storage.” I lied. He must have caught on to it, truth was my storage was in need of reorganizing; but I kept putting it off because it was a project that needed at least all my employees and myself to work on and because of how random each of their personal availability was, it was nearly impossible for me to schedule them for that project. A deep hum came from the other man, bastard. Erwin continued to unroll the damn silverware and began to eat. So that was it.

 

After the dirty plates were cleared out and Armin brought the check, Erwin grabbed the leather looking check holder and slipped his card into the top slot. I would never admit it, but I did enjoy these little luncheons with Erwin since he was the one who ended up paying for both of us. As soon as we both left the patio I tried parting ways with Erwin immediately, but he stopped me and handed me a small slip of paper.

“Call her when you’re less irritated.”

“I’m only irritated because some asshole decided to call me first thing after he took his morning shit.” I snatched the piece of paper from him and roughly shoved it into my front pocket. I caught Erwin smiling at me, “Fine.”

“Good.” He pulled back the sleeve to his suit and glance down at his watch, “I better head back to the firm. I’ll call you later, okay?”

I grunted in response and watched as he walked off in the opposite direction before walking back to the parking garage. It was full. No real surprise there, it was about time for kids to be off from school and idiots trying to get a little shopping done before they had to go back to their shitty ass jobs. I tread up the small hills and turns pass the sea of cars until I found my own. My keys came out from my pocket with ease and into the lock. I rubbed the corner of my eyes where the bridge of my nose met and sighed. What the hell was I going to say to her? Any kind of anger or resentment I had towards that idiot was long gone after all these years. Deep down, I was ecstatic (even though my face would tell you otherwise) that she was coming back.

All those thoughts were pushed aside as my phone rang. I took it out and looked down at the name that had appeared. I pressed accept and held the phone up to my ear. “What is it Gunter?”

“Sorry to bug you boss, but I need the key to open the bar.”

“Isn’t Erd there with you? He should have the key.” It wasn’t like I didn’t know what was going on, but I had to hear it from him. There were only a few reasons why Gunter would even bother calling me, and I ruled out fire and death.

“About that…” He hesitated.

Bingo. “He’s seriously lucky that I like him enough to ignore the shit he pulls when his fiancé’s off.” I let out a heavy sigh, “I’ll be there in ten minutes, if I don’t run into any traffic.” Gunter chuckled.

“Copy that!” The line went dead, grateful that Gunter and I shared the same taste for short phone calls I quickly slipped into my car and maneuvered myself out of the parking garage and out into the main street.  The drive was, as I hoped, painless and quick. I managed to get out of the shitty downtown area and back into the semi dead neighborhood without any unnecessary traffic blocking my path. Pulling into the alleyway that spaced the bar and my apartment, I spotted Gunter leaning against the wall next to the back door casually typing something on his phone. Probably warning Erd of the impending punishment I was going to give to him on his next day of work.

When I slammed the driver’s side door Gunter snapped his attention toward my direction quickly shoving his phone into his back pocket. He pushed himself off of the wall and walked over to me, “Sorry about that.” Gunter let out a forced laugh as I sighed pulling out the small pile keys, unclipping the ones that were used for the bar and keeping my own set out.

“It’s fine. Just tell him not to make it a habit.”

“Will do,” He gave me a small smile, “are you going to stick around?”

I shook my head, “Remember to give the keys to Petra when your shift is over.” My body felt horribly sluggish as I made my way towards where the staircase to my apartment was at and climbed up each step. I glanced over my shoulder making sure Gunter was able to get inside without a problem. Once I saw his figure disappear into the bar, I quickly unlocked my door and gave it a slightly harsh slam. Immediately I threw my body on to the couch that I thanked God that I stubbornly decided to keep it so close to the entrance even though it made the room look much smaller than it really was.

It felt wonderful laying my head on the plush material, I sighed in relief when my body relaxed among the soft cushions. Tomorrow I had to begin ordering extra supplies and re-order new tanks of CO2, hopefully before the bar runs out of the last two remaining ones. I took out my phone with the goal in mind of typing in the lists of things for tomorrow, and perhaps things for my dear employees to work on while I was busy with this crap. There, I noticed the small slip of paper that held the number to get ahold of Hanji. I wordlessly picked it up off of the floor, and without any hesitation I dialed the number. The other line rang a few times before I heard the click of it being answered.

“Hello?” 


End file.
